DoctorDave Computer Repair in Lawrence Kansashttps://www.calldrdave.com/wp
Random thoughts and musings
Sun, 19 May 2019 22:50:39 +0000 en-US
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1 https://wordpress.org/?v=5.1.113804573Loyalty Cards, Frequent Flyer Programs : Hacker’s Treasurehttps://www.calldrdave.com/wp/2019/05/loyalty-cards-frequent-flyer-programs-hackers-treasure/
https://www.calldrdave.com/wp/2019/05/loyalty-cards-frequent-flyer-programs-hackers-treasure/#respondSun, 19 May 2019 22:45:10 +0000https://www.calldrdave.com/wp/?p=2146Recently the New York Times ran a story about the risks of loyalty programs. Loyalty programs include everything from the virtual punch card at the coffee shop to larger programs like those offered by hotels and airlines. We tend to hear about the problems with travel-related loyalty programs like the Marriott/Starwood breach and Delta Airlines.

It’s not a credit card, but still a risk to your security.

What’s the Risk?

Your first thought when you hear about these breaches is what about your credit card and personal information like phone number and address? While that stuff is important, you can always change your credit card numbers. Most of the time, you aren’t liable for unauthorized purchases from bank accounts or credit cards.

The risk of these loyalty program breaches isn’t just the points, after all, you worked hard to accumulate that free coffee or a free trip around the world. It’s also about the details these programs can reveal to create more sophisticated hacks.

As an example right here in Lawrence, KS, when we sign up clients for internet service through AT&T, some of the security questions they get asked are:

What is your favorite restaurant?

Where is your favorite place to go on vacation?

What is the name of your youngest sibling?

These are the same type of questions Apple and dozens of other companies ask. I was asked the same time of questions when signing up for phone service with T-Mobile. Even if these questions aren’t used directly by hackers, they can be used for targets attacks called spear phishing. For example, if hackers see that I have a reservation at a hotel, they might call me and say there’s a problem with the card and I need to provide a different credit card.

I’ll admit until I read this article I had “soft” passwords for some of these programs. I figure Starbucks doesn’t have my credit card, and who would steal a coffee from me? Cybercrime is cybercrime so they might steal that. Then I realized my credit card is on file with them and someone could order themselves a gift card. Ouch. I’m secure with my Apple iTunes account because it’s a big target for hackers and Apple protects it with things like two-factor authentication. My Starbucks account is wide open!

What can you do to protect yourself?

First, create unique passwords for absolutely everything. If it contains personal data, it needs to be protected. Use a password manager or ask us about the password books we sell (or give away if you ask us nicely and mention this post!)

Second, consider enabling two-factor authentication everywhere you can. That’s the system where they text you or call you to verify who you are. If you aren’t sure how to do that, please ask us!

Finally, read your statements and emails. Sure, you get tons of those, but the only way you can catch a breach is to be vigilant. Take for example those Starbucks emails. Those always go into my junk email because I don’t go there that often. I always shop local for coffee, but sometimes Starbucks is all they have, especially at airports. After reading this article, I’m now working to unsubscribe from promotional emails from loyalty programs, but make sure emails about account balance and activities don’t go into spam. Again, if you need help setting this up for yourself, we do email management all the time for clients.

Although it doesn’t make the nightly news, your free pizza, coffee, and airline trips are the latest thing hackers are attacking. They’re not just stealing your points, but stealing information they can use for more sophisticated attacks.

]]>https://www.calldrdave.com/wp/2019/05/loyalty-cards-frequent-flyer-programs-hackers-treasure/feed/02146Yes, We Still Recommend Backblazehttps://www.calldrdave.com/wp/2019/02/yes-we-still-recommend-backblaze/
https://www.calldrdave.com/wp/2019/02/yes-we-still-recommend-backblaze/#respondMon, 25 Feb 2019 02:23:19 +0000https://www.calldrdave.com/wp/?p=2138Backblaze has been our preferred automatic safety backup product for years. Recently they contacted existing customers to let them know the rates would be increasing. Compared to their competitors who increased rates while decreasing services, or simply went out of business, Backblaze’s price increase is modest. They’ve had the same pricing for 11 years, so that hardly keeps up with inflation.

For $60 a year, or $110 for two years they backup everything on your computer. When something goes wrong, you can either download your data or they’ll overnight you a hard drive with all your stuff on it for FREE. Can’t beat that.

Not only have I used Backblaze for a decade, but I’ve also seen with my clients how well it’s worked. In particular, we had two clients who had fires at their homes. In both cases we were able to get the client up and running within 48 hours thanks to the overnight service. In another example, we were able to trace down a stolen laptop due to the tracing service Backblaze includes in the subscription.

If you haven’t signed up yet for Backblaze, do it by March 11th before the price increase. You’ll save $10 on the yearly plan and $15 on the two-year plan (what we recommend).

If you’re already a customer, you can extend your subscription for up to one year at the current rate. It’s a bit confusing, but they explain how to do it here. You agree to buy now and add onto your subscription’s expiration date. They make it sound complicated, but it’s not. Once you click on the Extensions Page, you buy the extension. I did it and got this message.

It only gets complex if you have more than one subscription on your account. Most of our clients don’t, so it’s as easy as clicking a link and then Purchase Extension.

Of course, if you have any trouble at all, please let us know. We’d be happy to help with this extension process at no charge because we believe in backups.

While you’re in your account, I suggest you test your backups. Try a few items from your computer and do a sample restore. That way in an emergency you know how to do it. If you don’t feel comfortable doing that, please let us know. We’re running a Backup Checkup special until the end of March. We’ll test your backups and make sure they work for just $40. That’s only half our normal hourly rate. We can do that remotely so you don’t need to leave your home, or at our office, or on-site (travel rates apply). If you need anything else done during the service call ,it’s at our normal hourly rate. We recommend yearly computer checkups to predict and prevent future problems, so if it’s been a year since we’ve seen you let us know so we can schedule a full checkup.

A few months ago, we switched many of our phone systems over to FreedomVoice. We’re now a partner of FreedomVoice and can get you set up.

What I like about FreedomVoice is it gives you advance call features like auto-attendants and phone trees for a small monthly fee. It can do faxing and even a “follow-me” function so when you aren’t at your desk, your mobile phone rings.

Our toll-free and emergency numbers are fully managed “in the cloud” for a low monthly fee. The feature I like best is when someone has an emergency the system can send out emails, text messages and push notifications so I’ll never miss that call. Seriously, when we get an emergency line call come in, red lights flash in my home.

If you’ve got a small office or a home office, let’s talk about your phone systems. I can get you set up with a rep from FreedomVoice to see if it would save you money. Heck, they even offer a Amazon gift card just to see if FreedomVoice is a fit.

You’ve got nothing to lose to check it out, unless of course, you like people having trouble reaching you! If you rely on your phone systems to interact with clients, lets talk!

It’s been close to a year since the most significant hack in cyber-history that we know of. The last thing you want for your business is to inform customer their information has been taken. You can avoid some common mistakes to reduce your chances.

This article on Inc.com goes over some common mistakes businesses make. The overall theme though is keeping up with technology is required in business. Just because something is working doesn’t mean it shouldn’t be looked at. Older software that isn’t getting security updates is the prime target (the Equifax hack as of this writing was determined to be a missed update).

Probably the most common problem we see is malware (viruses, trojan horses, rootkits, etc,). These are systems that take credit cards, and those internet nasties are stealing your customer information. You don’t even realize it as a business owner.

Although much less common, a disgruntled employee can cause you a world of hurt. They know your systems and where vulnerabilities are. Even if they aren’t technical, they might report your lack of security to others.

If you’re not familiar with updated security software and firmware on things like Point of Sale (POS) systems and routers, it’s time to contact us before you have to contact your customers about a preventable breach.

]]>https://www.calldrdave.com/wp/2019/02/could-your-business-suffer-an-equifax-type-hack/feed/01991Ignore That Email: Nobody is Spying On Youhttps://www.calldrdave.com/wp/2019/02/__trashed/
https://www.calldrdave.com/wp/2019/02/__trashed/#respondSun, 03 Feb 2019 21:38:16 +0000http://www.calldrdave.com/wp/?p=2095We posted this on Facebook a few weeks ago, but it’s worth mentioning here again. An email has been going around the past few months. It takes some different forms but generally follows the same pattern:

Someone “hacked” you and has your password

They’ve been monitoring you

They’ll send your information to all your contacts

To prevent this send them bitcoin

I even got that email. I gotta say when you see your password in an email right there it’s scary.

“Subject: dave@calldrdave.com has password (my password). Password must be changed

Hello!

I’m a programmer who cracked your email account and device about half year ago.

You entered a password on one of the insecure site you visited, and I catched it.

Your password from dave@calldrdave.com on moment of crack: (my password)

Of course you can will change your password, or already made it.”

As well as

“Subject: dave – (my password)

It seems that, (mypassword), is your password. You may not know me and you are probably wondering why you are getting this e-mail, right?

actually, I setup a malware on the adult vids (porno) web-site and guess what, you visited this site to have fun (you know what I mean). While you were watching videos, your internet browser started out functioning as a RDP (Remote Desktop) having a keylogger which gave me accessibility to your screen and web cam. after that, my software program obtained all of your contacts from your Messenger, FB, as well as email.

“

How Did They Get Your Password?

It seems like every day I listen to the news, I hear about another hack. From Applebee’s to Yahoo, there’s a company for every letter of the alphabet that’s been breached. A hacker stole your password from one of these companies. If you use your password more than one place, that’s how they got it.

Fortunately, I use a password manager called 1Password. Although I avoid reusing passwords for important stuff, I’ll be lazy and do it for some websites. In my case, I could trace it to Angie’s List. I had to sign up for my business and I didn’t’ think I’d use it much. That’s why I used a throw-away password.

What Can You Do to Prevent This?

You can’t prevent someone from hacking another system. I mean when Equifax gets hacked, that just shows you how vulnerable we all are. The best you can do is mitigate the damage.

Stop Reusing Passwords

I get it. Passwords are hard to keep track off. As I said, I use 1Password. We can help you set that up. We also have a more manual option: A password book. We sell these for $7.50, although you can get one free by joining our Wellness Program. That lets you use a unique password and keep track of them.

Get a Reliable Antivirus

If you’re on a Mac, you probably don’t have an antivirus. If you’re on a PC you might be using the free one that comes with Windows.

We used to take the approach good enough is, well, good enough. If you haven’t had any problems with your computer, stick with what you got. With so many threats out there, we’re finding basic protection isn’t enough. A professional paid antivirus provides not just added security but peace of mind. We recommend Malwarebytes. Fortunately, we’re able to sell it at a discount. Normally it’s $40, but we can sell it for $35 to existing clients.

When you get an email like this, just run a scan to get that peace of mind.

Don’t Pay Scammers/Let Them Keep the Money

We deal with tech support scams all the time. Some clients are so embarrassed they decide to let the criminals keep the money. These criminals then use the money to attack other victims. If we cut off the stream of money and don’t make this profitable, they’ll stop doing it. Okay maybe not stop, but at least make them work harder!

As a reminder, clients who are part of our wellness program get unlimited phone and email support for questions like these. When they get any suspicious emails, they just call us rather than give money to a scammer.

Full text of the emails:

“It seems that, (my password), is your password. You may not know me and you are probably wondering why you are getting this e-mail, right?

actually, I setup a malware on the adult vids (porno) web-site and guess what, you visited this site to have fun (you know what I mean). While you were watching videos, your internet browser started out functioning as a RDP (Remote Desktop) having a keylogger which gave me accessibility to your screen and web cam. after that, my software program obtained all of your contacts from your Messenger, FB, as well as email.

What did I do?

I backuped phone. All photo, video and contacts.

I created a double-screen video. 1st part shows the video you were watching (you’ve got a good taste haha . . .), and 2nd part shows the recording of your web cam.

Exactly what should you do?

Well, in my opinion, $500 is a fair price for our little secret. You’ll make the payment by Bitcoin (if you do not know this, search “how to buy bitcoin” in Google).

BTC Address:

(It is cAsE sensitive, so copy and paste it)

Important:

You have one day in order to make a payment. (I’ve a unique pixel in this e mail, and at this moment I know that you have read through this email message). If I do not get the BitCoins, I will certainly send out your video recording to all of your contacts including relatives, coworkers, and so on. Having said that, if I receive the payment – I’ll destroy the video immediately. If you need evidence, reply with “Yes!” and I will certainly send out your video recording to your 6 contacts. It is a non-negotiable offer, that being said don’t waste my personal time and yours by responding to this message.”

And

“Hello!

I’m a programmer who cracked your email account and device about half year ago.

You entered a password on one of the insecure site you visited, and I catched it.

Your password from dave@calldrdave.com on moment of crack: (mypassword)

Of course you can will change your password, or already made it.

But it doesn’t matter, my rat software update it every time.

Please don’t try to contact me or find me, it is impossible, since I sent you an email from your email account.

Everything comes with an expiration date, even bottled water! If you are running a computer with Windows 7, your computer will have severe problems on January 14th, 2020. On that date, Microsoft will stop supporting Windows 7.

What Does That Mean?

Microsoft did this with Windows XP back in 2009 and Vista in 2017. After they discontinue support, they won’t fix any bugs in the operating system. That puts your security and identity at risk. It also means that systems using it aren’t compliant with various security standards like FINRA for financial advisors, HIPAA for medical professionals and PCI for those people who take credit cards.

Security updates are essential to protect everyone. When someone at Equifax failed to do a security update, they put everyone at risk. Banks won’t allow you to connect to their sites without a newer operating system. Airlines might not allow you to schedule flights. For your protection, we won’t support systems running Windows 7 after that date. We can’t knowingly put clients in harm’s way on the internet.

What Can You Do?

Remember when Microsoft put Windows 10 on people’s computer for free, sometimes without consent? Unfortunately, they aren’t offering that. There are ways around that “free” offer, but it requires erasing your computer and reinstalling everything.

You can buy a copy of Windows 10 and install it on your computer, but that will cost around $100 or so.

But I Heard Windows 10 Was Bad or I Want to Stay with Windows 7

When Windows 10 came out, just like Vista or Windows 8, it was horrible. Anytime a new operating system comes out there is an adjustment period. We saw ever since Windows 3.1. Windows Vista and Windows 8 were particularly troublesome. Windows 10 was unique because systems that were “forced” into an upgrade were not always ready for it.

Now, Windows 10 is reliable and stable on new computers. We see minimal problems in comparison to problems we saw with older operating systems. It is often “self-healing” and solves its own problems.

If you want to stay with Windows 7, you can, but we’d suggest staying off the internet at all costs. The internet just isn’t safe unprotected. If you’ve got a specialty program that only runs on Windows 7, that’s fine as long as it doesn’t use the internet. We recommend after January 14th, 2020 to turn off the wifi and unplug the internet from these computers.

Another alternative is to create a “virtual machine” for these programs. We can install Windows 7 inside a Mac or PC and have that virtual machine run just your special program and disable only Windows 7 from the internet. We’re currently doing that for some clients running Windows XP or Windows Vista

Our Recommendation: Replace The Computer

Any computer currently running Windows 7 is probably around six years old since Windows 8 was introduced in 2012. We tend to see problems with computers after about three years since that is the average life of a hard drive. With a laptop, there are the added problems with power chargers, batteries and keyboard. Most Windows 7 systems thus are likely to fail soon. If you spend money upgrading the operating system, you’ll be more likely than not find the computer inoperable relatively sooner.

Since we don’t sell computers, only repair them, we’re primarily talking ourselves out of work. We’d rather tell you the right thing to do, even if it impacts our bottom line. Of course, if you need your pictures, documents (stuff in Word, Excel), emails and music copied to a new computer we can help with that.

You don’t have to run out and buy one today; you have a year after all. However, I’d suggest budgeting for one in 2019, so you aren’t surprised.

]]>https://www.calldrdave.com/wp/2019/01/windows-7-computers-are-set-to-expire/feed/02114Last Minute Holiday Gifts From DoctorDavehttps://www.calldrdave.com/wp/2018/12/last-minute-holiday-gifts-from-doctordave/
https://www.calldrdave.com/wp/2018/12/last-minute-holiday-gifts-from-doctordave/#respondMon, 24 Dec 2018 03:28:36 +0000https://www.calldrdave.com/wp/?p=2110It’s a few days before Christmas, and you need an excellent holiday gift. We’ve got a few popular ones.

DoctorDave Gift Certificates

It may not be the most exciting of gifts I know. After all, who gives gift certificates to a medical doctor? While we do computer repair as the main focus, we’re more into the fun stuff of setting up new stuff or preventing problems.

We still have appointments available for our Santa Service for setting up new stuff, but gift certificates are also popular for people who want to make sure the stuff they have is set up and running right.

We can deliver these gift certificates within Lawrence, Topeka and Kansas City at any time through the mail. If it’s really last minute, we’ll hand-deliver at no extra charge. We’ll even put on a festive hat if you request (yes we’ve had that request before).

Popular services we’re doing for gift certificate recipients are things like

Helping manage and protect pictures

Move stuff from old computers onto new ones

General checkup to protect and optimize technology investments (aka a tune-up)

Answer questions and solve annoying problems

Help manage passwords to protect your identity

Password Management Books

Speaking of passwords, another favorite gift is a password management notebook. Over the years we’ve seen clients store passwords in many crazy and ineffective ways. Some use post-it notes, others use a file on the computer, and worst of all many people reuse passwords.

With so many data breaches happening nearly every day, the gift of safety and security is reassuring. Our password management books look like a typical notebook. I prefer that over password management books that say “passwords.” That’s not very safe and secure.

Some clients use address books to manage passwords. That’s better than post-it notes, but address books store the wrong stuff. They’re also hard to read!

When we were deciding on the right password book to put our name on, I tested this with dozens of clients to find just the right one. The thing people like most about our book is the spacing so that you can write big. In other words, you don’t need to put on your glasses to read them. They’re $7.50, but mention that you’re reading this blog post (and made it down this far), it’s free for the asking. Just call the office, and we’ll schedule a time for you to pick it up.

Every year here at DcotorDave Computer Repair in Lawrence and Kansas City we offer our exclusive “Santa” service.

Technology gifts for the holidays are great, but the problem is they need to be set up. They’re more complex than the standard disclaimers of “some assembly required” and “batteries not included.” Take for example the average services we provide for a new computer setup:

Transfer stuff from the old system like pictures, music, and documents

Install programs like Microsoft Word and Excel as part of Microsoft Office

Configure antivirus and malware

Create a backup system to protect data

On average that’s about 90 minutes for us because we do it every day, sometimes even three times a day. Most clients tell us it takes them several hours to do this work and often they don’t have the skills or tools to finish.

In other words, it makes for a complicated and exhausting Christmas morning. Clients think our busy time is Christmas Day (yes we’re open) or the day after Christmas.

In reality, we usually start hearing from clients after the tree comes down. That’s because the new computer, printer, tablet or smart speaker (think Alexa and Google Home/Mini) sit in the box until someone decides to call us.

To prevent that problem we offer what I call the “Santa Service.” We can make an appointment at our office or your home (including evenings or weekends) and set all the stuff up in advance. Then you just put it back in the box and wrap it up.

When the recipient opens the box, it’s READY TO GO. Everything is set up. They just press the button, and away it goes. I’d admit it isn’t as popular as I think it should be, but clients who take us up on the offer rave about how happy they are.

It takes all the stress out of receiving a gift. Yes, sometimes getting a gift can be stressful. We’ve got this gift setup down to a science. After all, we’ve been in business 15 years.

Since we’re not a retail shop, it’s harder for us to participate in the fun of Black Friday, Small Business Saturday and Cyber Monday.

It might be harder, but we’re still doing it. Here’s’ some deals we have for you:

Pre-Payment Discount

Our normal rate is $90 an hour, but we’re selling blocks of time at a discount. You can buy two hours of service for $160. That’s a savings of $20, but for this weekend we’re selling them at $150 for an extra $10 off. You can use these in as little as 15-minute increments if you’d like remote support. They can be used for any of our services like

Wellness checkups (recommended every year)

New computer setups

Virus and malware removal

Upgrades, installs, and configuration of things like printers, wireless routers, scanners as well as software

If you purchase it anytime this weekend we’ll include a password book to track your passwords. Proper password management prevents you from getting taken in by scams and hacks. Go here to take advantage of the offer. After midnight on Monday they go back up to $160, which is still a good deal.

Free Checkup When you Join Our Monthly Wellness Program

Normally we charge $80 to join our Wellness program which includes your first checkup. If you sign up this weekend we’ll come out and do your first checkup for free. You must sign up and pay your first month’s fee of $25 to take advantage of this deal.

Some key benefits of our monthly wellness program are:

Wellness security and problem prevention checkups twice a year

Discounts on labor and anti-virus software

Free assistance through email or our DoctorDave iPhone app

Free installs of hardware, software and new computers

Free virus detection scans

Free checks for updates to hardware and software

Free Assistance with problems caused by scammers

Free Membership Appreciation Clinics and Parties

Free consulting on new hardware and software purchases

Free monthly tips and tricks newsletter

Free recycling of old computer equipment, including securely erasing or destroying data

Malwarebytes Antivirus Protection for Macs or PCs (50%)

We’re offering this only to existing clients. Normally this product retails for $40, but we give a discount of $5.00. For Black Friday, we’ll discount it another $10.00. You’ll get one year of protection for just $25. To take advantage of this deal you’ll need to already be an existing client and email. Call us at 785-841-8766 to take advantage of this deal. No online sales.

Stocking Stuffer: Password Management Book $5.00

Normally we sell these for $7.50 (or get them free if you purchase a pre-payment block of service). They’re great

Whether it’s Black Friday, Small Business Saturday or Cyber Monday, help support local business and protect your computer!

]]>https://www.calldrdave.com/wp/2018/11/black-friday-cyber-monday-special-pre-payment-discount-and-free-gift/feed/02099Interesting Idea for an Old Computerhttps://www.calldrdave.com/wp/2018/11/interesting-idea-for-an-old-computer/
https://www.calldrdave.com/wp/2018/11/interesting-idea-for-an-old-computer/#respondMon, 12 Nov 2018 00:50:45 +0000http://www.calldrdave.com/wp/?p=2073When you get a new computer, you might wonder what to do with the old one, especially if it works. We work with Connecting For Good in Kansas City to help refurbish and distribute these computers to needy families. However, there are some other uses.

My colleagues at Lifehacker had some interesting ideas. The one I like best is the “guest computer.” When people come over and need to just check email or print a boarding pass, why not have them use that spare computer. After all, hotels have those kinda resources. Just be sure to use it every so often to check to make sure it works and gets security updates.

When it’s finally ready to go out to pasture, don’t just throw it in the trash. Give us a call. Even if it doesn’t work, we can still get it ethically and responsibly recycled. We’ll make sure your private data is erased and the computer ends up in good hands.